Innovation
in busi

ness for people recovering from mental health problems

Solstice operates a
horticultural nursery on the outskirts of Aberdeen and is nurturing a range of
plants for a variety of local markets. The site has been developed rapidly in
the second half of 2005 and further developments are planned in the next few
months.

Solstice also has
teams who provide gardening maintenance services for several organisations in
Aberdeen.

People with Mental Health problems work in the project.
They are mainly recruited through the Employment Support Team operated by
Momentum, which deals with recruitment across the entire spectrum of mental
health social enterprises in Aberdeen. In addition, Solstice will advertise its
vacancies direct to local voluntary groups, who operate with mental health
service users.

Solstice, as a
social enterprise and then social firm, has been in existence for some years. It
was previously part of Unicorn Enterprises, a sheltered workshop complex
providing training and work opportunities for people recovering from mental
health problems in Aberdeen, run by Grampian Primary Care NHS Trust. In the late
1990ís, Unicorn began a long process of restructuring and re-provisioning its
services, involving reallocation of the site and relocating mental health
service users into a local network of social enterprises and social firms.

Solstice was
created by mental health service users working within Unicorn, and training
instructors, who saw the opportunity as part of this restructuring to create
real employment in a community setting, which would be of substantial
therapeutic benefit to people recovering from mental illness.

The aim of Solstice
had always been to set up as a social firm with two aspects to it: a wholesale
nursery growing on plants for sale to local nurseries and garden centres, and a
garden maintenance service.